Talking and telling

The Donor Conception Network are organising more of their special 'Talking and Telling' workshops for anyone who has children conceived using donor eggs and/or sperm. The last series of workshops were hugely successful and the Network is now offering places in London, Southampton, Manchester, Nottingham, Bristol and Sheffield, There's a special course in Central London for single parents only, and another for parents who have children of eight and over. You can find out all the details, and pick up a booking form at www.donor-conception-network.org

The risks of using surrogacy agencies

If you needed any warning of the potential pitfalls of entering into surrogacy arrangements without legal advice, an article in the New York Times provides just that.

The paper reports that a California-based surrogacy and egg donation agency that had taken tens of thousands of dollars from would-be parents has closed, taking their money with it.

The agency had clients and surrogates not only in the US, but also in other parts of the world. It is estimated that up to two million dollars may have gone missing. You can read more in the New York Times article.

No word from the HFEA..

Despite some of the frightening stories in the media over the last few days about the increased risk of defects for babies born after IVF treatment, there has been no reassurance for patients on the HFEA website. Many of the papers have quoted the HFEA, but it seems that providing patient information on this issue is less of a priority than talking to the media.

I rang the HFEA press office this morning to ask when some advice to patients would be put up on the website, and was told that it would possibly happen later today. Nothing seems to have appeared yet. This is despite the fact that the HFEA must have known that this story was about to hit the papers since Friday at the latest.

It is easy to forget how frightening stories like this can be for people who are having fertility treatment, and allowing journalists to run wild with the story without a word of reassurance to patients is singularly unhelpful. If you are concerned, the HFEA have apparently found time to tell The Independent that " some of the potential risks needed further investigation and, when the new advice comes into full use from October, it will be pointed out that the majority of IVF babies are born health".

I hope that patients won't have to wait until October to receive this reassurance directly from the HFEA.

PCOS and your emotions

There's an interesting all-day workshop for anyone who can get to Birmingham this Saturday, looking at the emotional aspects of polycystic ovary syndrome, or PCOS.

If you have PCOS, you will find it an interesting day and speakers include a psychologist, a hypnotherapist and a nurse. You can find out more about the workshop here, at www.verity-pcos.org,uk

IVF safety

If you've read the story in the papers today about the increased risk of defects for babies born after IVF treatment, don't panic. Some of the reports make it sound as if huge numbers of IVF babies are being born with serious defects, providing the opportunity for those who "don't agree" with IVF to have a field day, explaining that messing with nature or attempting to play God was always bound to lead to disaster and that it's only our own selfish desire to have children by IVF on the NHS rather than adopting one of the millions of unwanted babies that has led to this...

Where to start... IVF has been around for 30 years. If there was really a huge risk of children being born with serious defects, we would have seen the evidence from the start. The reality is that there is a slightly higher risk of having some very rare conditions if you have an IVF baby - but the fact that these conditions are very rare to begin with means that the chance of having these defects even with IVF is still extremely low. What isn't clear is whether some of this increased risk may come from the underlying fertility problems or the fact that IVF mothers are often older, rather than the IVF process itself.

It's sad the way a story like this brings out so much misinformed opinion about IVF and infertility - why do people seem to think that most IVF is funded by the NHS in the UK ? And have they any idea how few babies in the UK are waiting for adoptive parents? Why does the desire for a child suddenly become selfish if you need IVF to do it?

What we really need is some good, solid research to clarify the truth about the risks for IVF babies. Only then will we see an end to the scare stories.

Award for Infertility Network UK

The charity Infertility Network UK has been listed as one of the winners in a prestigious health award scheme.

The Impact Awards aim to reward charities who are doing excellent work to improve people's health, and this is well-deserved recognition for Infertility Network UK. The awards are funded by GlaxoSmithKline and managed in partnership with the King's Fund.

Possible new fertility treatment

Scientists say they may have discovered a new fertility treatment. It is believed that a hormone called KISSPEPTIN could help women who are experiencing hormonal fertility problems. Kisspeptin can stimulate the hormones which control a woman's menstrual cycle, and may be able to restore her fertility.

A small trial group of women who had stopped ovulating were given the drug, and their hormone levels improved considerably. Rather than stimulating the ovaries, this treatment would help by re-booting a woman's own reproductive system. You can read more about the research here .